Mini golf has been a popular game for many years, with courses typically having 9 or 18 holes. Scoring is usually written manually by each player, which slows the game and sometimes bores the players. There is a need for an inexpensive system that can be readily added to existing mini golf courses, without rebuilding of the courses, which can automatically display the scores on the club to speed up the game and increase the player's enjoyment.
Several U.S. patents are concerned with the field of the invention, such as:
Nicholls et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,052, shows a golf course hole-in-one detector.
McEvoy, U.S. Pat. No. 1,840,406, shows a mechanical stroke counter attached to a golf club. The counter is augmented when a ball is struck.
Reising, U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,389, discloses golf balls which include bar codes for identification of the individual balls. A computer 118 is connected to a plurality of sensors.
Valentino, U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,622, shows a golf ball having a metal center which is magnetically detectable.
Wang et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,106, shows radio location of golf course positions using different radio frequencies.
Gordon, U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,221, shows a magnetic golf ball. The magnetic properties of the ball are not used for sensing.
Jetton, U.S. Pat. No. 3,104,879, shows cables running to a central computer from various golf holes having golf ball sensors.
Golf clubs with impact sensors are disclosed by Wilhelm, U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,850, and by Allen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,236. Both employ piezoelectric sensors in the golf club head to register impact against golf balls. The sensors do not appear to distinguish between impacts with golf balls and other objects.
Other U.S. Pat. Nos. are: U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,106 to Wang et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,076 to Barthol; U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,692 to Woodward et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,992 to Blood et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,039 to Barricks et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,651 to Little, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,236 to Allen; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,850 to Wilhelm.
The prior art does not disclose any device which allows automatic score-keeping interactive with game players, which can be readily added to existing courses at low additional cost.